1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention relates to a hinge device for attaching a lid to, for example, an opening so as to be opened and closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, between a driver seat and a passenger seat in a front portion of a vehicle, a center console or an arm rest is provided. In the center console or the arm rest, an accommodation portion is formed so that small articles are accommodated therein. To an opening of the accommodation portion, a lid is attached to be opened and closed through a hinge device. The hinge device may have a so-called free stop function in which the lid can be stopped at the opened state of an arbitrary opening angle so that the lid is not closed without holding by a hand, and a function in which a braking force is applied so as to slowly close the lid so that the opened lid is not suddenly closed.
JP-2008-133680-A discloses a free stop hinge including a hinge base and a hinge arm connected to the hinge base so as to freely rotate through a support shaft, bearing plates having shaft holes respectively in the hinge base and the hinge arm, a friction plate having shaft holes arranged between the bearing plates and a compression coil spring arranged for pressing the one bearing plate of the pair of bearing plates to the other bearing plate through the friction plate.
In JP-2008-133680-A, an outer end portion of the hinge base is bent to form the bearing plate, the bearing plate of the hinge arm is arranged inside thereof, and the friction plate is arranged between them. At an end of the support shaft, a stopper (caulking or C-ring) is provided so that the support shaft is prevented from slipping out from the shaft hole.
By a frictional force generated by pressing the one of the pair of bearing plates to the other bearing plate through the compression coil spring, the lid supported by the hinge arm is prevented from falling due to its weight, thereby holding the lid at an arbitrary opening angle (as the so-called free stop function).
In JP-2008-133680-A, one end of the compression coil spring abuts on the bearing plate of the hinge arm to press the bearing plate toward the bearing plate of the hinge base side, and the other end of the compression coil spring is supported by the bearing plate bent in the hinge base. Namely, the hinge arm is braked to the hinge base by the friction plate arranged only in one side of the compression coil spring. In a structure that a braking force is applied only by one end side of the compression coil spring, when the lid supported by the hinge arm is heavy, a sufficient braking force may not be occasionally obtained.
Further, in addition to the friction plate to apply the above-described braking force, the end of the support shaft needs to be caulked or attached with the C-ring to prevent the support shaft from slipping out from the shaft hole and fix the support shaft. Thus, the number of assembling processes or the number of parts is increased to increase a production cost.